Guardian Ghost

Chapter 5: The dream revealing feelings

Sand under my feet. Children's laughter in my ears. White clouds drifting overhead in a blue sky. A large, vastly complex play structure looming in front of me. A good place for fun, I knew, with its complicated monkey bars, twisting slides, and generous accessories lining ramps, platforms and bridges. Also a good challenge, with its various makeshift handholds and footholds, along railings and other spaces in the design. It was an obstacle course filled with colorful fun.

Yet I was unhappy and bored.

The middle part of the structure—the tallest part—stood directly in front of me, as if in mocking. It was composed of at least five floors, each accessible through climbing up a maze structural building blocks. While those around me clambered to reach the top, I stood uninterested, as if in opposition to what was before me. I hated play structures. I hated the anxiety that came with climbing and the fear that came with falling. I'd never had strong arms. As a toddler, my bones had been easy to dislodge and dislocate, so I'd stayed well away from anything necessitating upper body strength. Of course, times had changed since then. I wasn't exactly out of shape anymore...

But I'm not still not touching that thing! I eyed the tower in front of me as though I were greeting an old enemy.

"You're not even going to try?"

"You can if you want." I bit my lip. I didn't like being a spoilsport, especially since others had played that card with me more times than I could count. "Sorry, I just can't."

"Of course you can."

"No, I can't."

"Oh, come on! You're telling me the great Yuelian can't get up five floors of play structure?"

"Well, in all honesty, yes."

Who was I talking to again? I frowned and managed to focus on the person standing beside me. A boy, my age, taller than me and leaner. Messy brown hair, kind blue eyes, odd freckles. For some reason, I was having trouble recalling his name. What was it again...?  

Oh, right. 

"Kurt, really, I can't."

"Of course you can." He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Here, I'll climb up with you. You'll see--it's just as easy as it looks."

I sighed. "It looks easy when you do it. Trust me, I'll look about as graceful as a wild turkey trying to run up a tree."

"Then I'll get a good laugh out of it. It's a win-win." He circled around behind me and gave me a playful shove towards what I liked to think of as a death trap. "Come on! I'll be sad if you don't!"

"... I think you just want to see me fail at something."

"Never." Another shove. "Look. Just once, I swear. Then I'm done."

"... Fine." I heaved out another sigh. "Let's get this over with." I started towards one of the ramps leading onto the structure, but Kurt grabbed me by the arm. For some reason, his grip seemed much stronger than the other sensations around me.

"Not that way. That's too easy!" He pointed at the tallest tower in front of us. "Let's climb up from the outside of this!"

"...Kurt, really—" Before I could protest further, I was being dragged towards my doom. Kurt made sure I wasn't able to get away with his firm grip. Soon, we were standing at the base of the iron platform and I was staring uneasily at the first ledge, which was out of my reach.

"You're going to get up there, and then I'll follow. And then we'll keep working our way up."

"Gee, that plan makes me feel so much better..." I grimaced at my own sarcasm. And at my height. "Kurt, I can't even reach that first ledge!"